Bundle tie



July 7, 1970 EBERLE EI'AL 3,518,727

' BUNDLE TIE Filed April 10, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 1mm Ewen see I uoamw eowm H MAN 6 BY M v WM BUNDLE TIE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10, 1968 3,518,727 BUNDLE TIE John Elmer Eberle, New Cumberland, and Norman Edwin Hoifman, Harrisburg, Pa., assignors to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Filed Apr. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 720,100 Int. Cl. 365d 63/00; F161 3/08, /00

U.S. Cl. 2416 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the electronic industry there are various applications involving the use of a great number of electrical conductors disposed in close proximity to each other. It is normally desirable to separate the conductors into discrete bundles and to secure the bundles together with some form of a tie.

Various bundle ties are known in the prior art for securing a bundle of conductors, cables or the like. The most frequent form of tie involves a belt-like strap having a slotted portion at one end and a series of teeth extending along the strap. The strap is passed around a bundle and the teeth are ratcheted through the slot until the strap is securely in position. There are several drawbacks to this type of strap. First, it involves a considerable waste of material in that there is always excess strap which serves no purpose and must be discarded. Additionally, many various lengths of straps must be stocked in order to cover a range of bundle sizes. Another drawback is that the tie appreciably increases the overall bundle size since the locking arrangement on the strap produces a build up of material around the bundle. These and other drawbacks of the prior art provide the background for the instant invention in which a continuous length of strap is employed, which stray may be selectively severed after being applied to a bundle. The strap employs a continuous self-locking feature which fits snugly around a bundle thus avoiding any appreciable size build up. In addition, the configuration of the strap permits various accessory devices to be readily employed for such purposes as identification, storage, hanging or the like.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bundle tie which avoids the various drawbacks of the prior art devices.

Another object is to provide a bundle tie which is supplied in indeterminate length to avoid the necessity of storing multiple size ties.

Another object is to provide a bundle tie of continuous hermaphroditic design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bundle tie made in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tie of FIG. 1 loosely placed around a bundle of cables;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 and showing the tie in its tightened position;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the bundle tie in its overlapped position prior to tightening;

nited States Patent O ice FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 and showing the tie subsequent to tightening;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an accessory device useful for identification purposes;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an additional accessory device for the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view partially broken away showing an alternative use for the bundle tie strap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The attainments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which there are shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention; it is to be understood, however, that these embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but are given for purpose of illustration in order that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practical use so that they may modify it in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a partic ular use.

Turning now to the drawings, there is shown a strap indicated generally at 20 for securing a bundle of cables or the like 22. The term cables as used throughout the specification and claims is intended to cover any generally elongated member and is not restricted to electric cables. The strap 20 is suificiently flexible to permit its being wrapped around a bundle and is conveniently formed of a thermoplastic material such as nylon. The configuration of the strap permits it to be manufactured by an extruding process thus materially reducing the overall manufacturing cost.

The strap has a generally constant cross-sectional configuration and comprises a pair of wing members 2.4 disposed in generally opposite lateral directions and extending along the entire longitudinal axis of the strap. The wing members aer generally acuate in cross-section and slope downwardly for a reason to be described. Each wing member has a bearing surface 26 for engaging the bundle and for providing lateral support to the strap.

The central portion of the strap between the wing members 24 is of hermaphroditic interlocking configuration to thus allow the strap to become locked to itself upon overlapping of the strap around a bundle. Thus, the central portion of the strap is provided with a depending male portion 28 and an upper female portion 30. The relative position of the male and female members may be reversed although it is advantageous to place the male member in the area defined by the downwardly extending wing member since such an arrangement maintains the overall size of the strap at a minimum.

The male member 28 has a pair of locking cars 32 which provide for an overall dove-tail configuration of the member 28. A center longitudinally extending slot 34 is formed in the member to provide added lateral resiliency to the male member.

The female member 30 is provided with a pair of recesses 34 extending longitudinally along the strap, the said recesses being of appropriate configuration for cooperating with the locking cars 32 on the male member. The recesses 34 can be seen in FIG. 4 and 5 to provide a generally dove-tail slot for receiving member 28.

The lower face of male member 28 is provided with a series of indents 36 of generally saw-tooth configuration. The female member is provided with a series of detents 38 which also are of saw-tooth configuration and are engageable with the indents 36. There is thus provided a series of serrations on both the male and female members which are cooperable to prevent longitudinal slipping of the strap in a manner to be described. These serrations may be conveniently hot rolled in the strap after the extruding process.

When it is desired to secure a bundle 22 of cables or the like the strap 20 is placed loosely around the bundle in a manner such as shown in FIG. 2. The strap 20 would normally be supplied in a continuous extruded form and therefore the operator would cut off a suflicient length of strap for the bundle to be tied. When the strap is placed in an overlapping position the outer layer of strap is moved in a radially inward direction to cause the male member of the outer strap layer to enter the female member of the inner strap layer. This position is shown in FIG. 4 wherein it can be seen that the two layers are interlocked but there is still a rather loose conection between the layers. As an alternative the strap may be fed in longitudinally from the end and then ratcheted until tight. This method is more difficult but could be accomplished with proper tooling. A small amount of space 40 exists between the two layers of the strap in this position. The serrations 36 and 38 are also loosely engaged at this time. It can be seen in FIG. 4 that the lower portion of the male member 28 of the inner strap layer is not in contact with the bundle 22 but rather the bearing surfaces 26 on the wing members are the only portions of the strap in contact with the bundle. In this position the strap is ready to be tightened from its position shown in FIG. 2 to its position shown in FIG. 3. This tightening operation can be per formed manually or the operator may be aided by suitable manual or automatic equipment. The two layers of the strap are caused to move axially relative to each other as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 6. It can be seen that the slope of the serrations permits the layers to be readily moved in one direction while also preventing movement of the layers in an opposite direction. As tightening of the strap is effected the wing members 24 are caused to be progressively flattened due to the increasing outward radial pressure being exerted on the bearing surfaces 26. The wing members are flattened until the lower surface of the male member on the inner strap layer comes into contact with the bundle in a position generally as shown in FIG. 5. In this position the strap is securely fastened around the bundle and the flattening of the wing members 24 has caused the recesses 34 of the female portion of the inner strap layer tightly to engage the locking portions 32 of the outer strap layer. In addition, the ears 41 adjacent recesses 34 are caused to substantially fill the areas 40 which previously existed between the coopertaing locking members. It can be seen that in this tightened position the locking members 32 and 34 serve to lock the two layers of the strap together while the serrations 36 and 38 serve to maintain the strap in its tightened condition in an axial direction. If desired, the tie can be permanently secured by adding a suitable adhesive along the serrations prior to use.

The hermaphroditic design of the strap 20 permits the strap to take up a minimum amount of space around the bundle. Thus the double strap layer in reality takes up little more than a single strap layer since the two layers are caused to nestle inside of each other.

In FIG. 7 and 8 there is shown an accessory device 44 for use with the strap 20 previously described. The device 42 may be conveniently a continuous extrusion of a thermoplastic material and may be color coded or provided with other indicia to provide identification for various bundles. The device 42 has depending flanges 44 of a configuration to cooperate with the outer surface of strap 20. In addition, a male member 46 is provided of generally dove-tailed configuration so that the device 42 may be snapped into place within the female portion 30 of the bundle strap. Appropriate serrations 48 are provided in the member 46 so that the device 42 may be positioned anywhere along the strap and held in that position.

An additional accessory device 50 is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 and is indicated generally at 50. The device 50 is intended to permit the bundles 22 to be secured to a plate 52 or similar member. The device 50 is generally identical to the device 42 previously described with the exception that a male plug member 54 is molded to the upper surface of the device. The plug member 54 is shown as being of generally circular configuration but it is to be understood that the plug member could also be of rectangular form to thus permit the entire device 50 to be an extruded piece. The plug 54 is provided with slots 56 and locking cars 58 to permit the plug to be inserted Within an aperture 60 in the plate 52. The slots 56 permit the plug to be resilient thus allowing easier entry of the plug into the aperture 60 while the locking ears 58 cooperate with the upper surface of the plate to retain the device 50 and the tied bundle in position.

In FIG. 11 there is shown an alternative use for the strap 20 of this invention. In this figure it can be seen that the strap is not used as a tying member but rather is used as a liner for an aperture 62 in a plate 64. The female portion 30 of the strap receives the plate 64 and the portions of the strap on either side of the female portion 30 serve to engage the lateral faces of the plate 64 to retain the strap in position. The strap could either be severed to length whereby it would have abutting end faces within the aperture 62 or the strap could be made larger than the aperture 62 and could be overlapped in a similar manner as previously described with reference to the bundle 22. It is contemplated that other uses can be made of the strap 20 of this invention although it is believed that maximum advantages are obtained when the strap is used as a bundle tie.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only.

We claim:

1. An elongated flexible strap for tying a bundle of cables or the like comprising a pair of lateral wing members disposed in generally opposite directions and extending longitudinally along said strap, each said wing member having a .bearing surface for engaging the bundle, said wing members being angularly disposed relative to each other, and cooperable interlocking means comprising complementary male and female members disposed between said wing mebers on opposite sides of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap for securing said strap to itself upon overlapping of said strap around a bundle, slot means in said male member to aid in inserting said male member into said female member, said interlocking means being operatively related to the angular disposition of said wing members.

2. An elongated flexible strap for tying a bundle of cables or the like comprising a pair of wing members disposed along opposite lateral sides of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said wing members being angularly disposed relative to each other 'whereby the outer free ends of said wing members extend generally downwardly and outwardly from the central portion of said strap, a bearing surface disposed in each said wing member for engaging a bundle, and interlocking means disposed in the central portion of said strap between said wing members, said interlocking means comprising a male member extending downwardly from the lower surface of said strap, said male member extending longitudinally along said strap between said bearing surfaces on said wing members, said interlocking means further comprising a female member disposed along the upper surface of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said female member comprising locking ear means for engaging said male member, said ear means being responsive to angular deflection of said wing members, said male and female members being of complementary configuration and being engageable upon overlapping of said strap around a bundle.

3. A strap as set forth in claim 2 wherein said wing members are of generally arcuate cross-sectional configuration.

4. A strap as set forth in claim 2 wherein said strap is a thermoplastic extrusion.

5. A strap as set forth in claim 2 further comprising slot means in said male member for facilitating entry into said female member.

6. A strap as set forth in claim 2 further comprising means disposed along said male and female members for preventing longitudinal slippage of said strap after tightening around a bundle.

7. A strap as set forth in claim 6 wherein said last named means comprises cooperable serrations, said serrations being of saw-tooth configuration.

8. A strap as set forth in claim 6 wherein said last named means comprises an adhesive.

9. A strap as set forth in claim 6 wherein said last named means comprises female serrations formed in said male member and male serrations formed in said female member.

10. An elongated flexible strap for tying a bundle of cables or the like comprising a pair of wing members disposed along opposite lateral sides of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said wing members being angularly disposed relative to each other whereby the outer free ends of said wing members extend generally downwardly and outwardly from the central portion of said strap, a bearing surface disposed in each said wing member for engaging a bundle, and interlocking means disposed in the cetnral portion of said strap between said wing members, said interlocking means comprising a male member extending downwardly from the lower surface of said strap, said male member extending longitudinally along said strap between said bearing surfaces on said Wing members, said interlocking means further comprising a female member disposed along the upper surface of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said male and female members being of complementary configuration and being engageable upon overlapping of said strap around a bundle, and an accessory device providing identification for said strap, said accessory device having means engaeable with said female member and overlying said lateral wing members.

11. An elongated flexible strap for tying a bundle of cables or the like comprising a pair of wing members disposed along opposite lateral sides of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said wing members being angularly disposed relative to each other whereby the outer free ends of said wing members extend generally downwardly and outwardly from the central portion of said strap, a bearing surface disposed in each said wing member for engaging a bundle and interlocking means disposed in the central portion of said strap between said wing members, said interlocking means comprising a male member extending downwardly from the lower surface of said strap, said male member extending longitudinally along said strap between said bearing surfaces on said wing members, said interlocking means further comprising a female member disposed along the upper surface of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said male and female members being of complementary configuration and being engagable upon overlapping of said strap around a bundle, and an accessory device providing means for mounting said strap, said accessory device comprising means insertable within said female member and overlying said lateral wing members, and plug means for insertion into an aperture in a mounting board for permitting mounting of said strap to said board.

12. An elongated flexible strap for tying a bundle of cables or the like comprising a pair of wing members disposed along opposite lateral sides of said strap and extending longitudinally along said strap, said wing members being angularly disposed relative to each other whereby the outer free ends of said wing members extend generally downwardly and outwardly from the central portion of said strap, a bearing surface disposed in each said wing member for engaging a bundle, said bearing surfaces causing angular deflection of said wing members about an axis extending longitudinally along said strap during tightening of said strap around a bundle, and cooperable interlocking means disposed in the central portion of said strap between said wing members for securing said strap to itself upon overlapping of said strap around a bundle, said interlocking means being operatively responsive to angular deflection of said wing members.

13. A strap as set forth in claim 12 wherein said interlocking means comprises complementary male and female members.

14. A strap as set forth in claim 12 wherein said wing members are of generally arcuate cross-sectional configuration.

15. A strap as set forth in claim 12 wherein said strap r is a thermoplastic extrusion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,000,763 5/ 1935 Lane. 3,011,745 12/1961 Reid 248-74 3,066,366 12/1962 Wyckoff et al. 24-16 3,078,532 2/ 1963 Bywater. 3,206,813 9/1965 Schumm 24-16 DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 248-74; 16-2 

